I Freakin' Want

So it was my birthday and my room-mate was feeling generous. He comes to me and says, “Bhai!!! What do you want for your birthday? Tu bas bol kya chaiye.”

“Hmmm… Now what do I want for my birthday? I want a new book to read, or maybe a new United cap, or a new jersey. I want a new shoe, a new watch maybe a new mobile. I am confused. I want a shiny new bicycle, no, a new bike, no, a new car. I want a Mercedes; no, an Aston Martin; wait no, a Jaguar. I want to dine out, to watch three movies back to back, to go on a trip. I want to sing, I want to dance; I es.”

I was saying these out loud and my room-mate kept staring at me; "bhai tu cycle ka karega kya?", he was perplexed. Things escalated quickly.

“I want to fly”, I droned on, “I want money, I want fame, I want to fight crime; I want to be Batman. I want to go to a jungle, I want to switch off my phone, I want to be powerful and I want to be powerless. I want to make a difference and I want to be different. I want to see ‘God’ and I want to go fishing with him (or her or the third gender). I want to know everything, I want to be enlightened, I want to solve problems and I want to create a few. I want to be here and I want to be there; I want to be this and I also want to be that. I want to solve world hunger, I want to eradicate poverty and I want world peace. I want to date Scarlett Johansson and I want to fight Wolverine.”

“Bhai!!” he interrupted, “Even I want to date Scarlett Johansson”.

“It’s my birthday, I get to wish”, I continued, “I want to walk, I want to run and I want to sprint. I want to score a goal in Champions League and I want to ruffle Messi’s hair. I want to travel, I want to wander and I want to be lost. I want to decide finally whether ‘to be or not to be’. I want vegetables to taste like chicken and water like booze. I want to write and then write some more. I want to be invisible and I want to be Batman (Did I say that already?). I want to keep learning and I want to keep exploring. I want to be a reader, a poet, a lover. I want to live, I want to evolve but most importantly, I want to know the meaning of life.”

Later that day, he bought me a pizza.

   

The Broken Heart Syndrome

I could not sleep last night. At two in the morning I found myself twisting and turning on my bed, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep. My body was exhausted but my thoughts were racing. I had been thinking of someone or something; I wasn’t sure. I felt something flutter in my guts. Were they butterflies? I could not tell. All I wanted was to sleep. Time seemed to have slowed down and in what seemed as eternity, half an hour had passed and the sensation grew stronger. I sat up. My room-mates were sleeping peacefully and I felt jealous. “Stop thinking about…”, I told myself. I tried to sleep again but to no effect. In that pain I found myself truly alone. I found myself anxious.

I gave up my effort to sleep and sat down to read, neither Gabo nor Neruda was able to sway my thoughts then. I was thinking constantly and furiously while the pain seemed to move up my body and into my stomach. I moved to poetry then to tragedy. I yearned for some comfort, some peace. Time had dragged itself till then and it was around four in the morning. “Na neend, na chain”, such a stupid line. The solitude felt absolute. It was like a brick wall, unyielding. I wished to talk, moan or even scream out loud but how could I? I had to bear it, it was my burden and I had to remain calm. I knew I had to ‘be a man’ about it and keep my pain to myself.

The tea shop opened at five and I was there, unsure how I reached there. I had still been thinking and felt a twinge of heart burn. The tea was sweet, I felt bitter; the irony of bitter sweet symphony was revealed and it seemed sad."Why?", the question kept coming back to me. My head was hurting, the tea had made my condition worse, I felt delirious. A few people joined me at the shop talking about knick-knacks and hustle-bustle. I was there but I had already drifted miles away. I was among them but different in both time and space. My thoughts were relentless and I was slipping within myself.

I decided to take a stroll. The morning breeze was cool and gentle, almost feminine. I walked. At a distance I could hear a few dogs howl and the distant drone of early morning traffic was surreal. My heart ached, I felt a dagger being pushed in. “Have mercy”, the prayer of an atheist rang to none. “I don’t deserve this”, I thought “I am a decent person, I mean well. Why should it be my fate?”. The streets remained empty, not a soul in sight. The breeze still blew calmly, nothing had changed. Frame after frame, the pictures crossed my mind, of what was and what could have been. The melancholy was unreal. I kept on walking, transitioning between reality and my dream. My breathing grew harder and my heart rate started to increase. The pain had reached its crescendo and I felt a tear drop on my cheek. I could sense a climax. I looked around. There was still no one; No one would stand witness, no one would ever know; I felt like a thief. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the inevitable. “Is this it?”, I thought, “Is this how it will all end? Is this how I’ll die?”.

A long and silent fart later, I understood it was all gas.

(PS: if you like it, no spoilers on social media please. Cheers!)

The Manifesto Concluded.

This is an imaginary manifesto of an imaginary Angoor Aadmi Party. It is meant as a satire and I mean no offence to any section of my country. I do not intend to mock AAP, they mean well. I was wondering about what a manifesto would look like if political parties stated the truth so I decided to become a party (I have used ‘we’ to denote myself). It is not a political campaign and I am not looking for votes.

Angoor Aadmi Party

                                -We won’t lie, just squeeze you dry.

This is the concluding part of the manifesto which sincerely hopes to dent your aspirations, deny you opportunities and make you wish that: “Had I voted wisely, things might have been different (they wouldn’t have been but what’s wrong in wishing?).”

So here we deal with the other half of the 10 point program. Five policies that’ll change your world.

Education: the first scheme is called ‘Tez Aandhi Padhai Likhai Yojana (TAPLY)’. Here we aim to wipe away all funding on education system like the cyclone that wiped your home. You see it is really difficult to govern a well educated country. Citizens keep asking for better quality services, file plenty of RTIs, question the values of the government; basically embarrass us at every step with well thought out arguments based on the figures that we provide them (freaking amazing!). We don’t want that. We don’t want debates, discussions or any questions being raised about us. You expect us to teach all of you (Bah!) and then you turn around to question us? Surely you see the point, surely you understand. Besides what’s the use? One of you with exceptional education will come up with some radical idea which will offend a lot of people, they’ll ask for your head and you will die an untimely death. So why bother? We also intend to repeal the right to education, those kids want to play not study and later they can join their proud parents in raising another generation as theirs. And higher education…Hahaha!!...see if you can find lower first.

Health: People, you have no safety, you have no money, you have no food, and we won’t provide you any education: Why the hell would you want to live? But anyways, since we need votes we must have a scheme for health and welfare (makes us look caring!). We have been very secular and called it ‘Uparwaala bachaye yojana (UBY)’. Since you are already familiar with the concept we won’t have to do much here. We’ll lease all the government hospitals to private practitioners who’ll treat you as they wish (most of them have genuine degrees, we believe). But don’t worry just so it doesn’t seem unfair we’ll increase their taxes by 1% (there, Happy?). Sanitation department would stop installing toilets at your houses so that you are with nature, when nature calls. Besides, it’ll be easier to relieve yourself as the fright of the incoming train would ease the process. Going outside for morning duties also becomes an opportunity for getting acquainted with neighbours; you can find a whole panchayat shitting together!! (Don’t tell us we are not promoting panchayati raj, we so are!) Infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate, female foeticide are all just numbers put up by the opposition, don’t believe in them. Most of you really don’t care about the disabled and the old anyways so we’ll make sure we don’t either (after all we are your representatives). We stand for inclusive governance, we’ll include all in our misgovernance.

Foreign affairs: This marks the corner-stone policy for every government. We too intend to have a lot of affairs in foreign countries but besides that we are clueless as to how to proceed. All we know is this: With Pakistan half of you want war, half of you want peace; we can’t provide either. With China: well you don’t trust China, we don’t trust you and hence the conundrum. With Nepal and Bhutan… well what is up with them? We’ll consider them neutrals. With Sri Lanka and Bangladesh: we really can’t say, our regional partners might divorce us. With America: We’ll keep batting our eyelashes to catch their attention and regardless of the manner in which they treat our officials, we’ll try our best to ensure that the romance remains alive. With Russia: well we really admire the macho figure of Putin openly defying America (so Dharmendra-esque) and the fact that they provide us with so many planes, guns etc. etc. We will too, be close to Russia. That’s the whole world right? (who goes to Africa?, nobody really cares about Latin America which somehow pops up from time to time; And Europe is our favourite holiday destination so we really hope they do well. Australia, we don’t know what to do there apart from playing cricket). We will however continue our ‘educational tours abroad and visit all those countries which are below us in terms of human development (there won’t be a lot we presume). How the hell are they beating us to the last spot?

The IT industry: Ah! Our favourite. Most of our close allies are in IT industry so we cannot really screw them over, or can we? Let’s see: you complain that you work for peanuts. We assure you that on assumption of power we’ll make sure that it is literally true; senior employees would however get better peanuts from Haldiram. We are working on a program named ‘Suffer Till you Die In Office of Heart-attack (STDIO.H) Yojana’. We also know that you hate working on Mondays so we will declare mandatory holiday on Mondays but Sunday would obviously be an 18 hour work day(Cheers all around, eh!). We look at you and are reminded of Boxer from the Orwellian farm. You, dear friends, are the work horse of our economy. You bring in a lot of dollars and work day and night to appease your western employers. And what do you want; to watch good movies on the weekend. To go to a fine restaurant or a pub to let off steam. To escape into nature (BTW who are you escaping from?). To be a part of the emerging India (Shiny, is it?). Well, haha! The entertainment taxes would be raised, and don’t you dare venture into an ac restaurant; the tax would be more than your bill. As far as your salaries are concerned, as one of our friend put it quite succinctly, “What’ll come around will go around per month”.

The Aam aadmi: Guys Guys Guys!!! Did you read the entire manifesto? And you still want to know what we have in store for you? We are impressed by your resilience. We applaud you for being part of our practical jokes election after election. We salute you for the courage you show when you defy the old adage ‘Pray! Strike on the back and not on the stomach’. We truly are you fans…Blah! Blah! Blah! We have nothing for you, we never did. We are exploiters and we ravage but what can we do with you? Our audacity is limited by your conditions. We have played with your lives and that is what we cannot do anymore (Screw all that… that’s just the manifesto talking, we’ll do worse).

Do vote for us.

We are looking for an election symbol, a bottle of really expensive wine seems obvious choice but suggestions are welcome (We value you opinion (sniggering uncontrollably)).

We will exploit you but trust us; we will not lie to you.

My God!! That's offensive!

I live in a utopia. My conversations are one of an aristocratic tea party, polite. My words are humble and politically correct. So are my thoughts. There is no wry smile; no innuendo, no wit and god forbid if I get creative, I don’t mean to offend. There are no puns, no rolling of eyes, no sarcasm and none of the truth. The sensibilities are paramount with a surcharge of please and pardon me. You may be wrong but I must let it slide by saying “excuse me! Could you please verify the fact once more, if it’s not too much of a trouble for you, for I think you may have come to a not-so-right conclusion. But pardon me if I seem impudent, I didn’t mean offence.” Yes it’s fun, it’s charming, the society is electric, and the ideas are stimulating. I don’t offend you and you don’t offend me, I respect your opinion and your right to have one, you do the same for me. This is my utopia. Help me!! I’m dying in it.

If I have the freedom of speech, do I have the freedom to offend? And do you have the right to get offended? The answer to both is a simple yes. The line is drawn on sand here. Indian laws restrict freedom of speech if it is defamatory, if it compromises national security or if it stands against public order and morality. There is no mention of it being curbed if one gets offended which should be distinguished from libel. So if I am stating the truth, exaggerating stuff to an unbelievable level, and saying things without the intention of defamation or being immoral (who decides it by the way?), do get offended! How you react is a different matter altogether. If I am being verbal, argue with me. Don’t come with a gun to shoot me, don’t throw me behind bars. If you don’t like my work of fiction, come up with your own work of fiction which counters my point, don’t ban my book. If you don’t like the script of my movie make a counter movie, let the audience decide which they prefer. If my paintings hurt your delicate sensibilities, paint out your anger, make a masterpiece to prove me wrong; don’t throw me into exile. If not then you are wishing for my utopia, you are welcome to be a machine in there.

George Orwell: Freedom is the freedom to say 2 + 2 = 4. Once that is granted, everything else follows.

Salman Rushdie: The right to offend is not about humor. It's not about anarchy. It's not about what I feel like doing, without consequences. Believe it or not, it's about defending the right to tell the truth -- which is necessary for progress of society.

These two ideas are put together define the essence of freedom of speech. I’m not good enough with words to forge that simple statement that comes out of synthesizing these ideas but here’s the thing:

a)Before you get offended, realize this – do you really feel offended based on facts or just because someone    told you be offended.

b)If I offend you, offend me. If you use force, realize this that I can counter in the same way. Let’s be        co-planar then.

c)Being louder doesn't mean you are right.

d)Being in majority doesn't mean you are right.

e)Being self-proclaimed arbitrator of order and morality doesn't mean you are right.

f)Evolve your tolerance and maybe your views.

g)I don’t give a shit!!!

So being offensive is being human, being offended is too. The satires, jokes, comic strips, movies, plays etc. are meant to entertain, reflect and provoke thoughts. If you are raising your weapon, there will be self-censorship among writers. If you are picketing cinema halls, there’ll be another century of mindless cinema (copies of copies). Artists will escape, comedians will cry, scientists would be lynched and we will see my utopia crystallize.

Be human, offend sometimes, and get offended sometimes but can we just keep it on the mellow side (or even that’s offensive?).

Presto!!! The Manifesto!!!

This is an imaginary manifesto of an imaginary Angoor Aadmi Party. It is meant as a satire and I mean no offence to any section of my country. I do not intend to mock AAP, they mean well. I was wondering about what a manifesto would look like if political parties stated the truth so I decided to become a party (I have used ‘we’ to denote myself). It is not a political campaign and I am not looking for votes.

Angoor Aadmi Party

                                -We won’t lie, just squeeze you dry.

We don’t expect you to read this (seriously, when was the last time you read a manifesto), but go ahead… kuchh toofani kar lo…

So we have a 10 point program for the country (our original idea) which we would like to divide in two parts and bring them out gradually as we are perfectly aware of your attention span. We would deal with the broader concepts and so some aspects may get neglected.

1    

             How would we deal with corruption: the big question… here’s the thing, we won’t. But don’t get disheartened. Every now and then we will establish a committee, wait for its recommendation, then establish another committee to recommend on those recommendations. We will raise your hopes, get you talking and just when it would seem that something positive might emerge, we will tear up the bill. And that’s not all we’ll also abuse lots of experts and knowledgeable people on live television just so it feels like we are doing something. Besides, c’mon… do you really expect us to curb corruption. We work really hard to win these seats what with all the media manipulation and snooping around… you think it’s easy? So when we win by the votes that you’ll give us, we assure you a corrupt government. We’ll go big and overshadow the entire GDPs of Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Sri Lanka in each of our not so subtle corrupt acts. And making CBI autonomous!!! Are you kidding us??? We would prefer ruling than rotting.

2)      Women issues: another biggie… yeah we know women played a major part in our independence struggle, they have been even more active ever since, they are home-makers, economy builders, leaders, pioneers, scientists, our equal partners in sickness and health, 49% of electors and what not… but seriously, we don’t care!!! It has taken us so long to establish a patriarchal society and to subjugate you. Do you really think we’ll empower you?? Haven’t you learnt that you will get married and vote according to your husband’s wishes? Haven’t you seen that you-tube video of Kalki where she clearly points out how everything is your own fault? So sit back, relax or make a sandwich if you feel like participating. We won’t do shit!!! But do vote for us… your vote is valuable for us.

3)      Environment: (laughing… Oh my god!! Did we seriously put this on our manifesto!!) Ok so supposedly environment is the in-thing nowadays so we have to have a policy about this too. So here we go…   We have a couple of ministries in the government working on environment protection (we have no clue about them) who do some environmental impact assessment or something like that. We assure you we’ll learn in depth about them and shut their funding as soon as possible. Why pour tax-payers money into planting trees or saving western-ghats or protecting our rivers? It’s not like they sustain your lives… smart-phones do (rebate on smart-phones is promised). And why save the tigers and elephants and the vultures (hideous creatures those!!) when we can have luxurious societies overlooking golf-courses where we can have fun pool parties. And pollution… c’mon people, all of you have air conditioners… just crank it up and chill!!! As for those who can’t afford ACs… please do vote for us, we have big multinational companies lined up so that we can provide you with free ACs and the subsidy will be borne by those who already have ACs (Don’t you just love a Robin Hood story). Vote for us.

4)      Foreign Investment: Our economic advisors tell us that foreign investment is a must for growth. We know that (they have invested fuckloads of money on us). It’s not as if you know about the Wealth-Drain theory of Dadabhai Naoroji. But we get it, our national savings at around 30%, we surely need to depend completely on foreign investors because we are too lazy to formulate policies to channel this saving into investment. We’ll allow FDI everywhere because we get embarrassed every time we project ourselves as a super power but we don’t even have Wal-mart. We are like big supports of everything foreign from our coffee to our underwear (We prescribe Tommy). And in medicine too. We’ll allow everyone to set up shop in India so that our standards get raised (We mean… c’mon a pack of Disprin for Rs 10!!! How cheap do we want to appear?). You get the picture right?? FDI in everything… So what if mom and pop stores close, so what if farmers get bound by contracts, so what if food wastage increases? We will have standardised potatoes, with stickers and all. Isn’t that the dream?

5)       Agriculture: Dear farmers… we worship you. You are like our biggest vote bank and so gullible that it makes us weep. See you contribute only 14% to our GDP but take away lot in terms of fertiliser subsidy, interest subvention, compulsory employment under various schemes etc. etc. yeah you bear a lot and produce food while living in sub-human conditions but you are just not viable. We have to grow at a pace of more than 10% per annum and all the subsidies are bleeding us dry. But what can we do? We have to beg for votes so please vote for us. We’ll visit each of the villages personally and assure you of our credibility but please don’t make it a habit of expecting us to visit and comfort you if one of you decides to commit suicide. It’s just bad for our image outside, please don’t do that. And what do you need internet for? Do you even know how to spell Google (HaHa!!)? And electricity… we don’t have it here in our headquarters (this manifesto was written under candle light). But people you need to remember to vote for us.

We’ll exploit you but trust us we won’t lie to you. 

A Really Shitty Conversation

(It is an imaginary conversation and YOU is an imaginary character whose resemblance to anyone and subsequent mockery is subject to author's discretion. Don't read if you feel like getting offended today)

Me : Hey wassup!! Sit down… let’s talk... Want some tea? (Make your own)

YOU: yeah it’s been really long and I have been dying to talk. Let’s talk about football.

Me : nah!! I know united lost the season and their reputation like anything. Your team didn’t do shit either but I would not allow you to be smug anymore. (I reserve that right, it’s my narrative).

YOU: cool... let’s talk about books.

Me: Sure

YOU: so the new Chetan Bhagat book is out. It’s pretty awesome.

Me: yeah I know… I slid it under my door… saved 20 bucks on door stopper.

YOU: Alright fine... what about movies? Did you watch ‘the 2 states’, it’s based on Chetan Bhagat’s novel... I’m telling you it’s great.

Me: Really!! I must buy the dvd then... my other door needs a stopper too...

YOU: wassup with the sarcasm?

Me: Who started the jokes?

YOU: OK… there’s been too much political debate going on. I have talked a lot about it... but what the hell!! Let’s talk about elections.

Me: Cool!! So did you vote?

YOU: yeah!

Me: why?

YOU: dude! It’s my right and my responsibility and my opinion. Did you not see ‘my finger’ on facebook?? Why didn’t you like it? My 111 other friends did!!

Me: Yeah… sorry bout that… Your finger didn’t seem that appealing. Anyways… who did you vote for?

YOU: I won’t tell you that... but the chances of my party’s winning are really high… (Shit!! Did I reveal it?)

Me: Ok... so who do you think will become the P.M.?

YOU (as if on reflex): Modi.

Me: Why?

YOU: dude... there is Modi wave across the country.

Me: A few more days and there’ll be a heat wave across the country... how does that matter?

YOU: Ok… haven’t you heard about the Gujarat model?

Me: Of course I’ve HEARD of the Gujarat model, sounds amazing. What about it?

YOU: well, once he becomes P.M… he’ll implement the model all over the country.

Me: that ought to work… especially since all the states like Tripura, T.N., J&K, Bihar etc. are so similar to Gujarat?

YOU: What do you mean?

Me: It’s like this amazing t-shirt that I brought. Since it is so amazing, it not only fits me but also my dad, mom and my sister.

YOU: Ok I get your point… he’ll bring about a change in government.

Me: Of course he will… a switch from Congress to BJP… like we haven’t seen that before!!!

YOU: dude… he has really developed Gujarat and provided good governance.

Me: so has Nitish Kumar and Naveen Patnaik.

YOU: I don’t know… he is just awesome. Did you hear about the hologram speeches… I mean if that’s not innovative, then what is? And besides, the jingle is too catchy “ab ki baar Modi sarkar”… I chant it even when I am sleeping.

Me: yeah well there’s nothing like a good jingle and virtual presence to govern a country.

YOU: what are you blaming me for? All the opinion polls say that he is going to win.

ME: (speechless for a moment)

Me: Ok what about congress and Rahul… oh! Ok, I heard myself… sorry…LOL…

Me: What about Arvind Kejriwal?

YOU: I don’t know… seems like a nice guy. But he doesn’t have the experience or the capacity to form a government so why waste my vote?

Me: you said that your vote was your opinion, your preference… so why waste it indeed?

YOU: dude… he doesn’t seem like a leader… and remember how that auto driver slapped him? ... Hahahaha!!... It was freaking hilarious... Did you see his face? ROFL.

Me: yeah it was funny… who doesn’t like watching a leader being slapped now and then. Maybe he deserved it. Maybe he didn’t.

YOU: dude… he ran away from Delhi assembly. That seemed like a betrayal to me.

Me: That I agree with… it was ironic that he ran from the chair given his penchant for dharnas and sit-ins. And of course wars, riots, corruption, malnourished children and farmers committing suicide are all mundane but resigning the chair must be betrayal. Besides, he said that he resigned based on ideology.

YOU: Who has time for ideology man? Wait… woohoo!!! I just levelled up in Candy Crush.

YOU: then why did he get slapped?

Me: is he really accountable for the mood swings of every tom, dick and harry? And besides, an auto driver was able to slap him... don’t you think that shows he is much more accessible? Can you imagine Mr. Modi or Mr. Gandhi being slapped like that?

YOU: Why are you batting for Arvind Kejriwal?

Me: I’m not… I’m just talking.

YOU: you are so naïve… all you have is bookish knowledge and you believe whatever comes out in media?

Me: yeah sure… and you must be the seasoned thinker I had heard about. You form your own opinions, I guess!!

YOU:  You know what I don’t wanna talk anymore…You are too sarcastic… and smug… and cynical… and besides I hate you anyways.

Me: sure… always a pleasure talking to you! 

Few Questions Remain Unanswered

The festivities began in all earnestness. There are commentaries, analyses, quotations, arguments, counter-arguments, rumours, facts and a few outright lies. So when the dust settles in a few weeks time and the elections get over we might find a new government in power but some questions will remain unanswered for long. I would like to put forward these questions broadly under three categories.

a

        1)  Politics in parliament

 The assembly is a place where legislations are to be forwarded, debated and made into laws, keeping in mind the welfare of people at large. For the last decade or so, parliament has turned into an arena wherein bills have been torn, chairs flung, insults and abuses thrown about, and legislators being opposed for the sake of opposition. The questions that remain are whether the new government would look seriously into this matter? Would they increase the average number of hours spent in parliament doing active work, which has declined rapidly? Would we witness the sharp wit of our elected representatives at work in discussions or are they only confined to televised debates? Would the parties now coming into the assembly be tolerant or belligerent or would they simply walk off the assembly as if nothing was at stake? Would a new generation of voters, we are so proudly welcoming, catch a glimpse of intellectual prowess of holders of the highest offices of the nation or be devoid of truly brilliant speeches that our leaders are capable of?  Can the parliament be a sanctuary for reason and politics played outside of it? Would bills be debated upon or simply put forth on the guillotine?

b       2)  National dream

There have been regular talks of emerging regional powers and their growing influence at the centre. Talks of fragmentation and changing alliances are commonplace. Ideologies and their counter ideas have all been dissected and debated upon for the last six months for the umpteenth time. All these factors are however divisive in tendency. The question that emerges is: would the new government and the opposition be able to pick a common thread of unification? Would they be able to collaborate, moving beyond trivial issues, to forge a national dream, a viable vision of India of future? Would they be able to provide this country with a common dream so that one and all could strive towards it fulfillment, or would we remain fractured, each chasing one’s own tail? India is to become a super power, it is said, and each party claims that it has the capacity to drive India towards supremacy. The sheer vagueness of this term shows lack of vision. Would India become a super power with its dwindling manufacturing sector, obsolete defense, low per capita income, low human resource development etc. etc.? If yes, then can they please share the plan with us so we can cooperate and maybe dream together irrespective of our caste, sex, place of birth, religion etc.? Would the new MPs be visionary or keep stumbling on the problems of here and now?

c    

3       3)  The mettle and resolve of the MPs

All of these questions are relevant not only for the government which might come into power but should be answered by each candidate who hopes to be a legislator. The few questions that come forward in this category are not exhaustive but miscellaneous. Would the MPs, especially in the government, be bold enough to take tough decisions based on reason and the spirit of humanity? Will they decide on the water sharing agreement with Bangladesh? Would they take into consideration and deliver the people locked in 160 enclaves from inhumane conditions? Would they deal with the controversy of AFSPA or would we need more Irom Sharmilas? Would they legislate over gay rights or keep a section of society unbearably alienated? Would they amend the draconian laws like section 66 of IT Act or would disagreement put people behind bars again? Would our artists be respected and their rights honoured or would they be forced to abandon literary fests, film festivals etc.? Would women be free to think and act or would they be reminded of the ‘Bhaiya’ mantra? Would our malnourished children be fed? Would we rule or would we be ruled?

The manifestos are colourful, words fancy, ambitions high, claims tall and arguments lofty. But in this festival, will reality drown among the shouts of change?